CPM Online Exhibits

Online Exhibit — Launched September 18, 2013This exhibit explores the songs of entertainer Sam Lucas, whose body of work "serves
as an important window into the post-Civil War era."

The Center for Popular Music and Professor Sandra Jean Graham of Babson College have
collaborated to create this online exhibit featuring examples of photographs, sheet
music, and playbills that tell the story of Sam Lucas and his work.

This exhibit portrays the American–Russian relationship during World War I and then
progresses until the height of the Cold War. By researching material from the Center
for Popular Music's collections, the music of this historical context provided a representation
of the differing relations and tensions between these two super powers. The music's
lyrics and tempos demonstrate the changing emotions associated with the tension over
war and the uncertainty of nuclear destruction.

The Center for Popular Music and Elaura Highfield have collaborated to create this
online exhibit featuring examples of song books and sheet music that tell the story
of American-Soviet relations.

Online Exhibit — Launched May 2, 2013When people think of protest music, they might picture folk singers from the 1960s.
Using music to make a statement started much earlier than that, however. The Hutchinson
Family Singers, from New Hampshire, were one of the most popular musical performing
groups in the 1840s. They sang pieces promoting prohibition and other social reforms,
but their biggest support went to the abolitionist movement. Wanting to sing for the
causes of freedom, the Hutchinson Family Singer provided the soundtrack for immediate
emancipation before the Civil War.

The Center for Popular Music and Rachel Smith have collaborated to create this online
exhibit featuring examples of photographs, songsters, sheet music, and playbills that
tell the story of the first "American Idols."

Online Exhibit — Launched October 11, 2012"In a state with such a rich musical heritage, it seems natural that music has played
an important role in Tennessee politics as much as other, more familiar, areas of
the state's culture. In this 2012 election year, we invite you to explore the many
facets of political songs and jingles in Tennessee and American history."

"Harmony and Discord: Music of the Civil War"

National Folk Festival, Nashville, TN — September 2-4, 2011Music was a powerful force during the Civil War: both North and South used music as
a call to arms, expressing ideals, commemorating leaders, adding levity, and providing
solace. Certain songs are forever linked with one side or the other, as they provided
a way for people to define themselves and create sectional enthusiasm and pride. Among
the North's great patriotic rallying songs were Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of
the Republic" and George F. Root's "Battle Cry of Freedom," while the South countered
with Dan Emmett's "Dixie's Land" and "The Bonnie Blue Flag," the "national anthem
of the Confederacy." These and hundreds of other war-related songs were heard in parlors,
in concert halls, at rallies, in camp, and on battlefields. Singing of glory and pain,
hope and despair, longing and triumph, this music constitutes a cultural heritage
that resonates yet today. The music publishing industry matured during the war years,
leaving a rich record of sheet music, songsters, broadsides, and song books. This
exhibit will compare and contrast popular music of the North and South during the
war, with a special focus on how the conflict in Tennessee was expressed in song.

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